AI News, Shimi Musical Robot Unveiled at Google I/O

Shimi Musical Robot Unveiled at Google I/O

Using the phone's camera and image recognition software, Shimi can track a user around a room and position its speakers for optimal sound.

The robot was developed by a team led by ProfessorGil Weinberg, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology.Weinberg and his colleagues plan to commercialize Shimi through a new startup company, Tovbot, based in Atlanta.

Future improvements include making the robot able to recognize gestures: shake your head when you dislike a sound or wave your hand in the air to skip tracks or change the volume.Tovbot also wants to allow developers to create new behaviors for the robot using an API.

The company hopes to make the robot available to consumers by the 2013 holiday season at a price ranging from US $100 to $200.

Georgia Tech's Shimi robot wants to rock with you all night, rock the night away

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback.

For instance, by using the phone's camera and face-detecting software, the bot can follow a listener around the room and position its 'ears,' or speakers, for optimal sound.

If the user taps or claps a beat, Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone's musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion.

Future apps in the works will allow the user to shake their head in disagreement or wave a hand in the air to alert Shimi to skip to the next song or increase/decrease the volume.

Weinberg hopes other developers will be inspired to create more apps to expand Shimi's creative and interactive capabilities, allowing the machine to leave the lab and head into the real world.

'I believe that our center is ahead of a revolution that will see more robots in homes, bypassing some of the fears some people have about machines doing everyday functions in their lives,' Weinberg said.

Wedding DJs beware - dancing music robot picks songs, shimmies to the beat and even reacts to the mood of the crowd

The news should send a shiver down the spines of wedding DJs - a new robot disc jockey is set to take to the stage at Google's I/O conference in San Francisco today.

Scroll down for video If a user taps of claps a beat,v Shimi analyzes it, scans the phone's musical library and immediately plays the song that best matches the suggestion.

The smartphone-enabled, one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive ‘musical buddy.’ ‘Shimi is designed to change the way that people enjoy and think about their music,’ said Professor Gil Weinberg, director of Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology and the robot's creator.

For instance, by using the phone's camera and face-detecting software, the bot can follow a listener around the room and position its ‘ears,’ or speakers, for optimal sound.

‘Shimi shows us that robots can be creative and interactive.’ Future apps in the works will allow the user to shake their head in disagreement or wave a hand in the air to alert Shimi to skip to the next song or increase/decrease the volume.

Weinberg hopes other developers will be inspired to create more apps to expand Shimi's creative and interactive capabilities, allowing the machine to leave the lab and head into the real world.